Champ Car to return to Quebec

UPDATE #2 Of course AutoRacing1.com readers knew about it first, but………Less than a month after losing its race in Montreal to NASCAR's Busch Series, Champ Car is set to announce a return to Quebec next year with a Canada Day stop in Mont-Tremblant.

The Globe and Mail has learned that the open-wheel racing series will include a July 1 race at the 4.26-kilometre (2.65-mile), 15-turn Mont-Tremblant circuit on its 2007 schedule, which is expected to be unveiled in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

"We do lay our plans ahead of time," Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven said with a laugh. "A race in Mont-Tremblant would be a pretty good idea. It's a very nice track with a great set of facilities around it. It would be a good place to go."

The permanent road course, about 120 kilometers northeast of Montreal in the scenic Laurentian Mountains, will be the host to the seventh event on the Champ Car World Series preliminary 17-race schedule.

While Kalkhoven didn't confirm the race, a source in the Champ Car paddock said the team owners agreed yesterday to create Canada Month, with Mont-Tremblant and the two other Canadian stops, Toronto and Edmonton, being held in July. Toronto's race will be held on July 8, with Edmonton two weeks later, on July 22. More at Globe and Mail

09/25/06 A reader writes, Dear AutoRacing1.com, The irony of it all. With Champ Car leaving Circuit Gilles Villeneuve for Circuit Mont Tremblant over a dispute with Normand Legault, people with a sense of history cannot but marvel that it was Maurice Legault, as head of Labatt Quebec, who provided significant sponsorship to ensure the completion and initial success of the Circuit Mont Tremblant 40 years ago and was instrumental in the initial races of Champ Car's predecessor USAC racing there. It was at that same Mont Tremblant track that a young Normand Legault was first introduced to motorsport, race promotion and management. George Daszkowski

09/24/06 We hinted at this two days ago but now we can reveal that Champ Car will race at the 2.65-mile Mont-Tremblant starting in 2007 in a new multi-year deal that will include some major upgrades to the facility over several years. We hear the race will run in July and will bring major racing back to St. Jovite where F1 once raced. Now that the very wealthy promoter has a marquee event again he is willing to make the investments necessary to bring this circuit up to world-class standards. There are big plans in play for this event so stay tuned for the official announcement.